Gerda Salazar

Gerda Salazar (died 1995) was a leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel. She was the mother of Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela's mistress Maria Salazar and several cartel hitmen, and she was killed by Cali Cartel leader Helmer Herrera in 1995.

Biography
Gerda Salazar was born in Colombia, and she became the mother of several future Norte del Valle Cartel members. Salazar herself would become involved with the cartel despite her age, and she became one of the cartel's top smugglers, alongside Orlando Henao Montoya, Ivan Urdinola, and Henry Loaiza. In 1995, her son Claudio Salazar was killed by Cali Cartel leader Pacho Herrera to resolve a dispute between the two men, and her daughter would become the mistress of Cali Cartel co-leader Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela. She was forced to turn her grandson over to Maria and Rodriguez at gunpoint, with Navegante holding her hostage until the child was given to Jorge Salcedo. She later sent a hit squad to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to assassinate Herrera, wounding his brother Alvaro Herrera. Pacho swore vengeance against her, and he assaulted her mansion with his own hit squad. At the end, he had Salazar presented to him, and she told him that she was happy because Alvaro was only "half a man". An angry Pacho finished her off by shooting her in the head with his handgun.